


There's no one here now

by owlaholic68



Series: New Vegas Blues [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Courier Lynn, Dead Money, Explicit Language, Fights, Injury, Multi, Spoilers for Dead Money
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 20:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11066358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlaholic68/pseuds/owlaholic68
Summary: She dreams of Novac, of her crowded motel room.





	There's no one here now

**Author's Note:**

> Light spoilers for Dead Money.

The Ghost Person catches Lynn by surprise.

A hiss is the only warning she gets before a weight lands on her back, knocking the knife spear from her hands. It skids, stopping several feet away. Instinct has her slamming an elbow back, hitting flesh with a satisfying crack. It’s enough to stun the attacker, so she can pummel it- this creature, this abomination – with her bare fists. Neck, face, ribs- her strikes force it off of her, and Lynn scrambles to her feet and runs to her discarded weapon.

 _Aim to dismember, always finish the job_ , she repeats to herself as she frantically hacks at the Ghost Person’s neck, until their head severs and falls to the ground with a plop that turns her stomach. Lynn steps back, breathing heavily, and looks down briefly at her Pip-boy screen.

Then _shrieks_ as a spear hits her leg, embedding itself deeply in the left shin. She whirls, barely managing to stay upright, to see two- no three- pairs of eyes in the semi-dark. Another spear whizzes past her arm, and she bolts. She runs in a random direction. _Doesn’t matter where, just away, just anywhere but here_. Into a ruined building, halfway up some stairs before she pauses to catch her breath. Reaches down and snaps off the pole of the spear, leaving just the knife behind. Less trouble that way.

She keeps running. The Ghost People follow, relentless. They number five now.

She’s been in this area before, Lynn realizes. There’s a path of disarmed bear traps and trip wires. She runs, stumbles, and hears her collar beep.

“Fuck,” she gasps, and backpedals until the beeping stops. Up ahead is a light, neon bright.

 **POLICE**.

The pain in her leg flares up. Lynn half turns, seeing a flicker of movement behind her. Bigger than a spear, but not quite the hulking shape of a Ghost Person mid-leap. A gas bomb.

She sprints towards the door to the police station, heedless of the insistent beeping from her collar, coughing as the bomb explodes behind her, shoving dust and red smoke down her lungs. The beeping stops. She throws open the door to the station, slamming it shut behind her. Throws the latch and the bolt, then slides a desk in front of it. The Ghost People batter insistently on the other side, screaming like banshees.

Lynn limps past the cell where Dog used to be, leaning on her spear. Turns into the hallway, and shuffles into one of the holding cells, closing it behind her. Only then does she crumple, the adrenaline rushing out of her body. Realizes too late that she’s crying, her breath coming too fast. She rips off her helmet and discards it. Digs through her pack with trembling fingers, past the meager stocks of ammunition and scrap parts, until she finds her medical kit.

 

_“Keep pressure on it,” Arcade snaps. “Why in the world did you think it was a good idea to take on that whole group by yourself?” he reprimands, wrenching open the first aid kit. Pauses to take in her pale face and glassy eyes. “Goddamnit,” he growls, digging with renewed fervor through layers of gauze and chems. “You knew what you were getting into, why didn’t you take antivenom before you rushed right into a nest?” He sighs and rubs a hand across his face. “At least you’ve got me here to heal your sorry ass.”_

But no one’s here now.

In the Mojave, she probably had enough supplies in her med kit to heal an entire NCR camp. Here, she has a few precious stimpacks (three, she reminds herself, not enough, not enough). One single dose of Med-X. A needle and thread. A roll of salvaged bandages. Picks up a stimpack, considers it. Puts it back in the med kit and takes out the needle and thread instead. Grits her teeth and gets to work.

* * *

 “What are you doing?” he demands, angry. He’s always angry.

Lynn swallows a sarcastic reply. _Having a picnic, asshole, what does it look like?_ “I just need to rest for a minute.”

Father Elijah doesn’t hesitate. “Get up.”

“I’m injured,” she retorts.

“I don’t care.” Of course he doesn’t. He’s told her a million times, sneering, that she’s expendable. That he’ll blow her collar with a second thought if she steps out of line, if she so much as thinks about betraying him.

“I-“

He interrupts her. “If you don’t get up this moment, pick up your weapon, open that door,” Elijah’s voice turns from menacing to patronizing and back again, “and get back to the mission, I can always-“

“Just kill me and find someone else to do your fucking dirty work, yeah whatever, asshole. Just shut up and fuck off for like five minutes.” She interrupts brusquely, tired. Tired of the threats, the paranoia, the feeling of eyes on her back.

Silence for a moment, then she realizes. She fucked up, she wasn’t supposed to talk like that, not when-

_Play stupid, play clever, make the mistake of saying “no”…_

Her heartbeat thunders in her ears, sharp breaths tearing free of her lungs. Her right hand finds the collar, clutching desperately. She thinks for a second that she hears faint beeping, on the edge of her hearing.

“I’m sorry!” she blurts. “Please, I- I’m sorry, I- please, just give me a few hours, just to rest. I promise-“ her voice breaks. Lynn pauses to try and slow her breathing, wiping away angry and desperate tears with the back of her hand. “I’ll do it, I’ll get back to the mission, I promise, just- just give me this, please.”

_"Sometimes you gotta give ‘em what they want, boss," Raul says. "I wouldn’t have made it a week up there if I hadn’t just gone along with whatever Tabitha said." He looks over their shared campfire at her, serious for once. "You hate it, ‘specially if it involves a bit of begging, but as long as you make it out okay, a little hurt pride is worth it."_

Father Elijah pauses, then speaks slowly, his voice cold like the Brotherhood he used to stand for. “You have two hours.”

“Thank you,” Lynn forces out.

“That was the only second chance you’ll get.” He says. “Don’t try me twice.”

“Thank you,” Lynn repeats, anger seeping out of her, curling up on the dusty mattress.

_I’m not going to make it._

* * *

 She dreams of Novac, of her crowded motel room.

Boone cleaning his gun on a fold-up table, Raul sitting across from him, taking apart some gadget or another. ED-E floating in the kitchen and whistling a tune. Veronica humming along while she sorts through drained energy cells and electron charge packs. Arcade in one armchair, reading, Lily in the other one, just watching everyone and smiling. Mattresses leaning against the wall. Some would sleep in her room tonight, others in Boone’s room. Arcade would be crashing at Daisy’s place.

“You going to help me anytime soon, or just sit there?” Veronica half-yells, smiling. Lynn smiles back, and walks over, bending down to kiss her cheek.

“Give me a sec, babe,” she says, heading to the kitchen. “I’m not going anywhere.” Gives ED-E an affectionate pat, then opens the refrigerator. “Anyone want anything from the fridge?”

“Some water would be nice,” Boone calls out.

“Sure thing,” Lynn responds. She grabs one and tosses it to him.

Toss is too gentle of a word for what really happened. The bottle, hurled at full strength, hits Raul in the back of the head, who flails like he isn’t over 200 years old. The rickety table gets upended, gun parts and mechanical scraps clattering to the floor. The bottle ricochets to smack Arcade squarely in the face.

Boone erupts in laughter, a rare sight these days. Raul starts complaining loudly, while Arcade pretends to dramatically die on the floor. Veronica leans on the wall for support, holding her stomach as she chuckles. ED-E is excitedly beeping, agitated by the commotion.

It’s dark, and Lily finds Lynn alone on the balcony. Lynn, half-detached from the dream, fondly remembers this conversation.

“Never leave,” is what Lily had said.

“Come back,” is what she says now.

“Come home to us, no matter what it takes.” She repeats, and Lynn feels a lump form in her throat.

“I will,” she promises, and wakes up.

Feels the collar heavy against her neck. Struggles to her feet and shrugs on her pack. Picks up her spear and opens the cell door.

_Time to finish this._

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr!  
> https://owlaholic68.tumblr.com/


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